MV Dirona travel digest for Sydney 2014

Position: -33°39.35'S, 151°9.73'E

Matt and Jean Findlay's Beneteau 57 Superted V at anchor near the head of Cowan Creek. We've been following each other for almost a year. The two boats passed several times in Fiordland, NZ, and Superted is the anchored sailboat in our video taken from the summit of Magog on Stewart Island. We met several times in New Zealand, but haven't seen them since Nelson, shortly before we departed for Brisbane. And we just ran into them again yesterday as they were returning from a hike ashore, and shared drinks that evening on Dirona. Matt and Jean also plan to be in Sydney for New Year's and continue south to Tasmania, we we'll certainly meet up again.

Position: -33°34.47'S, 151°19.51'E

The HMAS Gascoyne off Barrenjoey Penninsula. The 172' Gascoyne is one of six minehunters built for the Royal Australian Navy around the turn of the millennium.

Position: -33°37.97'S, 151°21.04'E

The cliff at Hole in the Wall is one of several dramatic formations along this part of the coast.

Position: -33°50.55'S, 151°16.18'E

Entering Sydney Harbour is a major milestone for us. It ranks up there with first passing under the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco over two years ago.

Position: -33°51.05'S, 151°15.66'E

The Sydney Central Business District, with the cruise ship Pacific Dawn moored in front and the Sydney Ferries Collardy underway. A large fleet of public and private ferries, high-speed catamarans, water taxis and charter boats operate with Sydney Harbour, constantly criss-crossing the waterway. Navigating around them isn't difficult, but you do need to pay attention.

Position: -33°51.74'S, 151°13.13'E

At anchor in Farm Cove, right beside the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. We're so excited to actually be here, and what an amazing setting.

Position: -33°50.70'S, 151°12.92'E

Signing into the Sydney Flying Squadron club on the north shore, Sydney's oldest open boat club. For New South Wales private clubs with a bar or restaurant, you must be a member to enter if you live within 5km, otherwise you can sign in as a guest.

Position: -33°50.70'S, 151°12.92'E

We had a great lunch on the deck overlooking Careening Cove at Mark Foy's in the Sydney Flying Squadron.

Position: -33°50.94'S, 151°12.83'E

We got a great view to the Sydney Opera House and Farm Cove from Bradfield Park under the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Dirona is visible at anchor on the left of the photo.

Position: -33°50.95'S, 151°12.83'E

Looking across the harbour to Circular Quay in Sydney Cove from Bradfield Park. Circular Quay is the main ferry terminal in Sydney Harbour and is incredibly busy--recreational boats are not allowed there.

Position: -33°50.87'S, 151°13.17'E

Before returning back to Dirona, we stopped for drinks at the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron. We'd contacted the club looking for reciprocal moorage and they couldn't accommodate Dirona, but did give us a place to land the tender. The club, established in 1862, has an expansive and beautiful clubhouse and grounds, with a surprisingly large and busy boat yard.

Position: -33°51.74'S, 151°13.13'E

The evening view to the Opera House and the harbor bridge from the anchorage at Farm Cove. Wow!

Position: -33°50.74'S, 151°12.71'E

Syndney Harbour doesn't have good dinghy access to the Central Business District (CBD), so we landed on the north shore again and crossed back over. We can reach the CBD either by ferry from Kirribilli Wharf just east of the bridge, or by train from Milsons Point Station. The ferry wharf is closer than the train station, but the train runs more frequently than the ferry, and is cheaper.

Position: -33°51.45'S, 151°12.63'E

The superyacht Silver Cloud moored in Campbells Cove. The 134' catamaran has an unusual hull design called 'Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull', or SWATH, that uses two submarine hulls for improved stability at sea.

Position: -33°51.57'S, 151°12.76'E

We had a delicious lunch at Sydney Cove Oyster Bar, overlooking the commercial traffic action in Circular Quay.

Position: -33°51.43'S, 151°12.86'E

Restaurant and casual seating line one side of the Opera House. The food looked quite good, and you can't beat the harbour view.

Position: -33°51.99'S, 151°12.65'E

The Sydney Central Business District is quite dense, with a wide variety of innovative architecture.

Position: -33°52.02'S, 151°12.67'E

A welcome afternoon coffee break at Bellino Bar in the Central Business District.

Position: -33°52.06'S, 151°12.44'E

A photo of Jennifer with Sydney's Happy Christmas tree. This is our third warm-weather Christmas since leaving Seattle but, with decades of Northern Hemisphere training, warm weather still feels strange for Christmas.

Position: -33°52.31'S, 151°12.11'E

Darling Harbour is ringed with restaurants and also is home to the Sydney Aquarium and the Australian National Maritime Museum. The marina barely showing at the left of the photo would be a wonderful place to moor Dirona, but the AUD $295 per day with power dampens the excitement somewhat. Perhaps that explains why only one boat was in the marina the previous Monday and it's less than half full in this picture.

Position: -33°52.33'S, 151°11.96'E

Pints with a view to rest our weary feet--we'd walked over nine miles at this point so were ready for a break.

Position: -33°51.74'S, 151°13.13'E

The Sydney Opera House aglow in the morning sun.

Position: -33°51.21'S, 151°12.86'E

Another milestone ticked off as we head under the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Position: -33°51.08'S, 151°12.62'E

The number of AIS targets (blue triangles) gives an indication of the business of the harbour. The ones with red lines extending in front are underway--the longer the line, the faster the speed.

Position: -33°51.07'S, 151°12.48'E

Luna Park, on the north shore just west of the harbour bridge, has been operating since 1935. The amusement park was modeled on the successful Coney Island Luna Park in New York City.

Position: -33°50.17'S, 151°6.43'E

Most of the ferries plying Sydney Harbour carry passengers only--the cable ferry at Mortlake is the first vehicular ferry we've seen here.

Position: -33°49.73'S, 151°4.78'E

We anchored for the night at Homebush Bay. Depths are shallow here--we saw about 7.5' at low tide--but manageable. The anchorage is calm and sheltered, and the condos ringing the shore set the harbour aglow at night.

Position: -33°50.05'S, 151°4.29'E

A short distance south of Homebush Bay is Sydney Olympic Park, where the Sydney 2000 Olympics were held. The archer practicing at the Olympic Park Archery Center was using a bow so technologically advanced it was hardly recognizable as a bow. Apparently it worked though--he hit steady bullseyes while we watched.

Position: -33°50.12'S, 151°4.19'E

Looking southwest across the BMX course, Mountain X. In the distance on the left are the lights above Sydney Olympic Stadium, now called ANZ Stadium. The stadium was built for the Olympics with a seating capacity of 110,000, but that was later reconfigured to 82,500. This is where the New South Wales State of Origin rugby league matches are held.

Position: -33°49.45'S, 151°3.08'E

Recreational craft aren't allowed up the Parramatta River beyond the Silverwater Bridge. The passenger ferries continue several miles upriver to Parramatta through a narrow, shallow, bouyed channel. At low tide the channel is so thin that the shallow-draft catamarans can't run, and the service is by bus.

Position: -33°49.49'S, 151°3.78'E

The Royal Australian Navy operated an armory at Newington for nearly a century starting in the late 1800s. The site was vacated for the Sydney 2000 Olympics and now is part of Sydney Olympic Park. Most of the original buildings from 1897 still stand, and a very creatively-designed and innovative children's playground is just west of the cranes.

Position: -33°49.73'S, 151°4.78'E

The spares and parts we brought back from the US included spare door latches. Since the latch was ripped off, we've been holding the cockpit door open with a bungee cord. It's nice to have it functional again.

Position: -33°49.73'S, 151°4.78'E

The relay we'd installed to parallel the start alternator was rated at 200A continuous duty, but failed under loads of 175-185 amps. Don't let your sales team rate the hardware. We've now moved to the biggest, smokin'est 24v relay on the market, a Trombetta Bear, rated at 225 amps continuous.

Position: -33°51.18'S, 151°12.65'E

A lot more recreational boats are out in Sydney Harbour on the weekend. We plan to visit Sydney during the week, and explore the outer regions on the weekends when the harbour is more busy.

Position: -33°50.95'S, 151°14.46'E

We considered stopping for the night in Athol Bay, but found the anchorage busier than we expected, with more boats arriving and ferries running through. So we just stopped for lunch and enjoyed the city view.

Position: -33°50.79'S, 151°14.16'E

From Athol Bay we move to the mouth of Little Sirius Cove, still with a great city view. Hugh and Olivia Thomas noticed us anchored below their condo and sent us a few pictures.

Position: -33°50.71'S, 151°14.34'E

Hugh and Olivia Thomas welcomed us to Sydney and offered us a spot to land the tender. From there, we walked around Little Sirius Cove to visit the Taronga Zoo. We took roads to the head of the bay, then followed a nice footpath along the east short. This picture was taken near the zoo entry at Little Sirius Point, overlooking the anchorage. The footpath also connects to Whiting Beach, where a tender could be landed for easy zoo access as well.

Position: -33°50.58'S, 151°14.50'E

Entry to the zoo include a cable car ride from the ferry wharf up to the ticket gates, with sweeping views of Sydney Harbour.

Position: -33°50.63'S, 151°14.36'E

The zoo holds shows, talks and animal encounters throughout the day. The Free Flight Bird Show demonstrated the hunting and flight capabilities of several birds of prey. From the anchorage yesterday we could see people in the amphitheatre--now we knew what they were looking at. That's Dirona visible below in the center of the bay.

Position: -33°50.66'S, 151°14.49'E

The seal show was amongst the most popular--we barely squeezed in.

Position: -33°50.68'S, 151°14.60'E

We had a good lunch at the zoo's aptly named restaurant, The View.

Position: -33°50.63'S, 151°14.47'E

It was a great day at the zoo. Here's a short video showing some of what we saw.

Position: -33°50.44'S, 151°14.00'E

While touring the neighbourhoods on our way back, we noticed this Moth sailing hydrofoil tucked into a parking spot. Believe it or not, that little tiny single-person sailboat is capable of 30 knots--with the right sailor at the helm.

Position: -33°50.79'S, 151°14.16'E

The generator coolant temperature was dancing between 204 and 205 degrees, triggering an over-temperature warning. We changed the generator coolant pump impeller and cleaned the strainer. This impeller was definitely at end of life, with every blade broken. The good news is not a single piece broke off to block up the coolant system, so it just required a quick impeller change. This one did pretty well, lasting 966 hours.

Position: -33°50.79'S, 151°14.16'E

The view to downtown Sydney lights from the anchorage at Little Sirius Cove is especially impressive at night.

Position: -33°50.87'S, 151°12.77'E

In addition to taking a ferry or train, the third way to reach downtown Sydney from the north shore is by walking across the bridge--and it's not much slower, given we don't have to wait or enter a station. It was interesting how high the security levels maintained on the bridge were. Three security guards patrolled each walkway, and cameras were all over the bridge.

Position: -33°51.15'S, 151°12.64'E

The bridge has excellent harbour views--this is looking east to sea. The second headland on the left is Bradley's Head, just east of our anchorage in Little Sirius Cove.

Position: -33°51.27'S, 151°12.57'E

One of the reasons we'd walked across the bridge was to climb the Pylon Lookout. In addition to the 360-degree view of the harbour and downtown Sydney, the pylon also contains a decent museum detailing bridge construction and history.

Position: -33°51.27'S, 151°12.57'E

We'd considered doing the BridgeClimb, but the cost is $228-$328 per person with cameras disallowed. They will take your picture and sell it to you though. At $13 per person for the Pylon Lookout, we got nearly as high and we could take our own pictures--a much better deal. We don't know what they charge for pictures on the BridgeClimb, but assuming $300 per person with over 3 million climbers by April of 2013, they've already made $900M. That's enough to pay for the $13.5 AUD bridge 66 times, and using inflation-corrected dollars, at least twice.

Position: -33°51.27'S, 151°12.57'E

Another Pylon Lookout visitor took our photo with the Opera House behind us.

Position: -33°51.48'S, 151°12.51'E

Lunch streetside at the Mercantile Hotel in Sydney's historic "The Rocks" district.

Position: -33°52.23'S, 151°12.57'E

This is part of the view from the Sydney Tower Eye, 820 feet up. The second cove from the right, with trees on both sides, is Farm Cove, where we first anchored in Sydney Harbour. The Harbour Bridge is just to the right of center, and Darling Harbour is the waterway closest to the city along the left side. We spent ages up there enjoying the view and picking out various landmarks.

Position: -33°52.09'S, 151°13.18'E

After our Sydney Tower visit, we walked east to Woolloomooloo Bay where several restaurants overlook a private marina.

Position: -33°52.15'S, 151°13.24'E

The Australian Navy has several bases in Sydney Harbour. From right to left, this is the Guided Missile Frigate HMAS Sydney, the Frigate Helicopter HMAS Anzac and the Amphibious Assault Ship HMAS Canberra at Fleet Base East.

Position: -33°50.79'S, 151°14.16'E

We've seen several Sydney Hobart race contenders out practicing on Sydney Harbour in the past week. Wild Oats is the current record holder and has won the race seven times since it's launch in 2005. They'll be defending the cup this Boxing Day in the 70th running of the race.

Position: -33°50.79'S, 151°14.16'E

Pacific Dawn has been in drydock in Woolloomooloo Bay to our south the entire time we've been in Sydney Harbour. They've just come out now and are doing compass turns a few hundred yards away before heading out to sea.

Position: -33°49.96'S, 151°16.28'E

There's always lots of traffic in Sydney Harbour. Here two Manly ferries are passing as we head through relatively narrow Western Channel.

Position: -33°48.70'S, 151°17.11'E

This Fisheries Patrol vessel toured the anchorage then landed two officers at Little Manly Point, presumably to check the licenses of those fishing from shore.

Position: -33°48.02'S, 151°17.14'E

Using the Anchor Buddy, effectively a bungee-cord attached to an anchor, we moored the tender in an out-of-the way spot at Manly Wharf and climbed a ladder ashore.

Position: -33°48.19'S, 151°17.12'E

The Manly Skiff Club has produced several Australian 16ft skiff champions. This is the view from beside the club looking across to Manly Cove.

Position: -33°47.95'S, 151°17.51'E

Manly Beach was popular on this hot and sunny Friday. A track leads south from our viewpoint all the way to North Head.

Position: -33°47.88'S, 151°17.19'E

The Corso, a large and attractive pedestrian mall, connects Manly Wharf with Manly Beach.

Position: -33°47.95'S, 151°16.88'E

We'd purchased a five-venue discount package with our Sydney Tower tickets, and one was for the Manly SEALIFE Sanctuary. We were quite impressed with the displays there, particularly the Little Penguin exhibit and the underwater viewing tunnel through their four million liter oceanarium.

Position: -33°48.00'S, 151°17.06'E

We had an exceptional meal overlooking Manly Cove at Papi Chulo.

Position: -33°48.70'S, 151°17.10'E

This morning the generator was no longer visible on the NMEA bus via the Wavenet digital monitor. James took apart the box and found the wire to the NMEA signal line had vibrated out of the crimp inside the modular plastic connector. He replaced the connector and the crimps and secured all wiring to minimize motion. Engine vibration on that three cylinder during engine starts and stops is hard on attached gear.

Position: -33°48.94'S, 151°17.16'E

North Head was the site of the quarantine station for the Sydney area from the 1830s to the 1980s. Any ships that arrived had to be vetted for infectious diseases and anyone at risk was quarantined in this facility, housed according to the class of service they arrived in. The facility has been converted into a hotel, with a good museum detailing the station's history and two restaurants.

Position: -33°48.94'S, 151°17.24'E

This originally was a funicular railway, or cable railway, used to transport goods between the dock at sea level and the living quarters in on the cliff above. It's now been replaced with a long set of steps.

Position: -33°48.82'S, 151°17.26'E

This is the view across Spring Cove to North Harbour from the old Second Class housing at the quarantine station.

Position: -33°49.13'S, 151°17.78'E

We tried to find a shortcut from Q Station to North Head Scenic Drive to reach North Head, but there were no paths. We didn't want to push through the bush, so walked the road instead. This is the view looking west across the entrance to Sydney Harbour, where we passed through a couple of weeks ago enroute from the Hawkesbury River. That's South Head and Hornby Lighthouse at the left of the photo.

Position: -33°49.31'S, 151°18.05'E

We continued on North Head Scenic Drive to Fairfax Loop, a walking trail with several viewpoints at the cliff edge. This is looking north to the dramatic cliffs along the outer coast.

Position: -33°49.40'S, 151°18.01'E

The views from Fairfax Loop are spectacular. This is a panorama looking from sea into the entrance to Sydney Harbour from the southernmost viewpoint on the Fairfax Loop.

Position: -33°49.38'S, 151°17.89'E

This video shows the view from the western viewpoint on the Fairfax loop looking first north into Middle Harbour, then west across Sydney Harbour and east to sea. It's a long way to New Zealand from here.

Position: -33°49.08'S, 151°17.92'E

A footpath adjacent to North Head Scenic Drive led from Fairfax Loop to North Fort, built to protect Sydney from attack during World War II. We took a guided tour through the grounds. This picture was taken on the beautifully done Memorial Walk that honors those who served Australia's defense and peacekeeping efforts in wars starting from the Colonial times to present day.

Position: -33°49.00'S, 151°17.94'E

This is the second of the two gun emplacements at North Fort. Unfortunately the guns were sold for scrap metal some years back.

Position: -33°49.00'S, 151°17.94'E

The underground works are Y-shaped, with tunnels running from a central corridor to the gun emplacements at each arm of the Y. This is looking down the tunnel from the second gun emplacement towards the central corridor.

Position: -33°49.05'S, 151°17.24'E

The old quarantine station boilerhouse has been converted into the Boilerhouse Restaurant with great harbour views.

Position: -33°49.04'S, 151°17.23'E

We initially chose a seat at the Boilerhouse seeking shade from the sun, then switched seats to shelter from the rain and even hail. We've had major thunderstorms every day this week--locals assure us this is quite unusual for Sydney. Peter Di Santis sent us this Daily Mail article "No end in sight to Sydney's bizarre weather" with some spectacular lightning photos from the storms.

Position: -33°50.81'S, 151°13.20'E

Filling our water tank at the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron. The docks is empty this morning, but soon will be filled with all the Extreme 40 Sailing Series competitors.

Position: -33°52.21'S, 151°12.13'E

We visited the Sydney Aquarium at Darling Harbour. The reef tanks there are impressive for both coral quality and the sheer size of some of the tanks. The Dugong exhibit is a major feature as well. The Dugongs are big eaters--throughout the day, two keeper constantly rotate lettuce trays for them to eat.

Position: -33°52.03'S, 151°12.10'E

For lunch we found a brewpub playing Sunday Night Football live, and watched the Patriots vs San Diego.

Position: -33°52.20'S, 151°12.11'E

The five-venue ticket package we bought with our Sydney Tower tickets included Madame Tussauds, so we stopped by after lunch. It's not the sort of attraction that we would normally take in, and really only went because it was part of the package, but we ended up enjoying it.

Position: -33°52.20'S, 151°12.11'E

The figures at Madame Tussauds are surprisingly lifelike, and very strong to survive people posing with them. One of the figure creators explained how the figures are made, starting from this metal core.

Position: -33°52.20'S, 151°12.11'E

James is 6' tall, but looks pretty short next to the figure of 7'6" Yao Ming.

Position: -33°50.75'S, 151°14.21'E

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Position: -33°51.14'S, 151°15.16'E

The 2014 Big Boat Challenge took place on Sydney Harbour this week. Fifteen boats entered, but the three 100-foot super maxis--Perpetual Loyal, Wild Oats XI, and Comanche--attracted most of the attention. One of those three boats will likely take line honours in the Dec 26th Sydney-Hobart race, one of the most difficult open-ocean yacht races in the world. Perpetual Loyal is skippered by Team Oracle USA helmsman Tom Slingsby, who we'd met at their foiling camp on Lake Macquarie. Audi-sponsored Wild Oats XI has won line honours seven times and was a favourite in the race. Comanche is a new high-tech boat that was launched in the US in October, shipped to Australia, and launched in Sydney Dec 5th. This gave the crew only three days to practice locally before the Big Boat Challenge. The race was incredibly exciting to watch and the boats moved surprisingly fast. Along with the masses of other spectator boats, we were able to get very close to the fleet, but had to pay close attention to avoid being run over or swamped in the huge wakes. Wild Oats XI took line honours over a minute ahead of the field, Comanche placed second, and Perpetual Loyal came fourth. It was a fun race to watch becuase, unlike the Sydney-Hobart race, spectators aren't kept away from the boats and you can get right up close to the action. However, this race was essentially just a practice session--Sydney-Hobart on December 26th is game day.

Position: -33°52.16'S, 151°11.93'E

We spent hours touring the ships and the museum at the Australian National Maritime Museum. The museum has an extensive, mostly-operational fleet of ships to tour, plus indoor exhibits. We had a great time, and even though we'd allocated most of the day, we still didn't have time to see everything. We started out on the HMAS Vampire, the last of the Australian-built big destroyers, and continued to the HMAS Onslow, an Oberon-class submarine. After lunch, we toured the attack class patrol boat HMAS Advance that will be the starting boat for the Syney-Hobart race, and a replica of Captain Cook's HMB Endeavour before viewing the indoor exhibits.

Position: -33°51.64'S, 151°13.10'E

The eighth and final venue for the 2014 Extreme 40s Series is Sydney Harbour. The Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron hosted the event, and their dock was rafted two-deep with race boats all week. We watched the teams prepare before the first of three race days, and ran with them to Farm Cove where the course was set. The Extreme 40 race format is ideal for spectators, with multiple 12-15-minute races, held over a three-hour period on a short course extending from the Opera House east to Woolloomooloo Bay. Since all the boats are identical, the only difference being the skill of the crew, the distance between first and last place is rarely more than a few boat lengths. We anchored the tender in Farm Cove for most of the races, then moved over to Woolloomooloo Bay for the last few. At the end of three days of racing, Alenghi placed first, and won the overall 2014 champions. Tom Slingsby won the the Above and Beyond Award for skippering Oman Air to fourth place overall having never set foot in an Extreme 40 before this event.

Position: -33°50.75'S, 151°14.21'E

When in a new city, we often are contacted by a local resident or two who have been watching the blog, or are just interested in Nordhavns in general, and would like to meet us and see Dirona. What made this visit unusual is we're at anchor rather than on a dock, so getting to the boat takes more skill and ingenuity. Sydney local Andy Young (at far left in photo) took a water taxi out to see us and we had a great couple of hours talking about boating, Australia and showing Andy through Dirona.

Position: -33°44.11'S, 150°18.90'E

It was a beautiful and sunny day, we left the boat just before 6am to take the 6:04 train from Milsons Point to connect with the 6:34am train from Strathfield Station to the Blue Mountains, arriving at Katoomba shortly before 9am. From there we walked about 15min to Merriwa St and Cliff Dr and picked up the Prince Henry Cliff Walk towards the Three Sisters formation. The views along the way were impressive, and were amazing from the Three Sisters. We could see across the valley to railway, cableway and skyway at Scenic World and up to Echo Point, both places we'd get to later in the day. From the Three Sisters, we took the Giant Stairway--a 998-step plunging descent--into the valley floor, and walked the Federal Pass track west around the base of the Three Sisters and on to Scenic World.

Position: -33°43.72'S, 150°18.06'E

Scenic World at Blue Mountains has several rides that showcase the area's geography. Scenic Railway is the steepest passenger railway in the world, ascending 310 meters to the cliff top from the valley floor at a maximum incline of 52-degrees. Another route between the cliff top and the valley floor is the Scenic Cableway, with excellent views east across the mountains. It is the steepest and largest cableway in the southern hemisphere. The final ride is Scenic Skyway that crosses between cliff tops 270 meters above the valley floor. We took the railway up to the cliff top, then the cableway back down and walked along the boardwalk to the railway and back up. The boardwalk is nicely done, with many interpretive signs detailing the areas natural features and mining history. After a light lunch at East270 clifftop in Scenic World, we took the skyway east across the valley, then walked down to Katoomba Falls and the valley floor via the Furber Steps, then back up on the cableway and east again on the Skyway and continue east to Echo Point for more excellent views to the Three Sisters and across the valley.

Position: -33°43.31'S, 150°19.21'E

For our third and final big trek of the day, we took the Blue Mountains Explorer Bus from Echo Point to Kiah Lookout and walked from there to several lookouts with view to Bridal Veil Falls. We then picked up the Prince Henry Cliff Walk again to continue east to Gordon Falls, with several impressive vistas along the way. Finally, we took the bus back into Katoomba and rested our feet over a pint before boarding the train back to Sydney.

Position: -33°53.06'S, 151°13.10'E

The Sydney Amazon Web Services team invited us to their Christmas party at The Local Taphouse. A rooftop bar on a warm Sydney night is a beautiful place to be, and it's a great group of people to spend time with.

Position: -33°55.24'S, 151°15.61'E

A 40-minute trip on two trains and a bus brought us to Bondi Beach this morning for the Bondi to Coogee Coastal Walk. The 8.4km track leads south along the cliff tops and beaches to Maroubra Beach. We had ideal weather for the walk--warm, sunny and windy--with huge waves crashing into shore. The scenery was dramatic, and several of the communities along the way had beautiful rock pools--outdoor saltwater pools built into the cliffs. For the second time on this trip, we found police in large numbers equipped with climbing gear at the edge of the cliffs over the ocean. Fortunately this time they were just practicing.

Position: -33°50.75'S, 151°14.21'E

New South Wales' offshore patrol vessel Nemesis was one of several law enforcement vessels that have toured through the bay in the past 24 hours. We're not sure what's happened over the last week, but where no police vessels would pass through the bay there's now multiple every day. Perhaps they're at a higher level of alert since the hostage-taking event.

Position: -33°52.15'S, 151°12.11'E

We visited the WILD LIFE Zoo in Darling Harbour today. It's not a large facility, but their 700kg crocodile sure was. They weren't too busy that day, so we got a chance to talk to one of the keepers and attended the keeper talks on the saltwater crocodiles and Koalas. We ended up spending half the day in what was expected to be a short visit.

Position: -33°51.84'S, 151°11.70'E

The Jones Bay Wharf once was a major commercial shipping area. A $100-million renovation produced a beautiful multi-use property with docks, offices and apartments.

Position: -33°51.77'S, 151°11.70'E

The view to Sydney Central Business District from Jones Wharf.

Position: -33°52.11'S, 151°11.25'E

The city has done a beautiful job of transforming the waterfront from it's commercial heritage while keeping a flavour of the past.

Position: -33°52.30'S, 151°11.54'E

The 1,132-foot long Anzac Bridge is the longest stay-cable span in Australia. The bridge was named in memory of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) soldiers who served in World War I.

Position: -33°52.35'S, 151°11.61'E

Sydney has a large fish market in Blackwattle Bay. We'd arrived late in the afternoon, so the market was mostly closed down for the day. Blackwattle Bay is a popular cruising boat anchorage as dinghys can be landed at the Fish Market--one of the few public access points within reach of downtown Sydney.

Position: -33°52.48'S, 151°11.62'E

We took the light rail back to Central station to get home a little faster.

Position: -33°50.82'S, 151°13.21'E

We stopped off at the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron to fill our freshwater tank and give the boat a quick wash.

Position: -33°51.67'S, 151°11.50'E

In preparation for the trip to Tasmania after New Year's, we topped off our fuel tanks with 588 gallons (2673L) of diesel and 48 gallons (219L) of gasoline from Bailey's Marine Fuels near Darling Harbour.

Position: -33°48.15'S, 151°14.77'E

Passing under the Spit Bridge in Middle Harbour. All the bridges we've passed under so far open on request, but this one opens on a fixed schedule only.

Position: -33°46.83'S, 151°13.86'E

The view looking towards the head of Bantry Bay. We like to have a calm, secluded anchorage for Christmas, and Bantry Bay was exactly what we were looking for. The treed shores of Garigal National Park surround the cove--the only infrastructure ashore are old munitions storage buildings and on the other side, a small dock with a picnic area.

Position: -33°46.79'S, 151°13.84'E

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and best wishes for the New Year.

Position: -33°46.59'S, 151°13.95'E

Out for our Christmas Day hike on the Bay Walk around Bantry Bay.

Position: -33°46.23'S, 151°13.78'E

The Bay Track mostly is through the woods, with some dramatic sandstone sculptures and a few views to the water along the way.

Position: -33°46.04'S, 151°13.72'E

From the Bay Track, we followed the Bluff Track for sweeping views into Bantry Bay and Middle Harbour. Bantry Bay, for such a beautiful destination, had surprisingly few boats there over the holidays. Dirona is the rightmost boat at anchor.

Position: -33°46.00'S, 151°13.71'E

The track continued to a higher bluff for even better views into the bay.

Position: -33°46.99'S, 151°14.11'E

We returned to Bantry Bay, then took the Timbergetter's Track up to Seaforth Oval, an outdoor sports complex. Just outside the fields is a an excellent viewpoint. This is looking west towards Roseville Chase.

Position: -33°46.94'S, 151°14.08'E

This is the view looking south into Middle Harbour from Seaforth Oval. The Spit Bridge is out of the picture on the left side of the photo.

Position: -33°46.92'S, 151°14.23'E

We chuckled at this sign (click image to see larger picture). It looked like it had been translated from another language into English.

Position: -33°46.87'S, 151°14.07'E

We followed an old, overgrown track a short distance for a good view into Bantry Bay.

Position: -33°46.66'S, 151°13.91'E

Normally we worry about not having enough slack in the dinghy tie line for low tide. Here high tide also is the concern--the dock is awash.

Position: -33°45.25'S, 151°11.92'E

After our hike, we ran the dinghy up Middle Harbour Creek until we ran out of water. The creek runs through Garigal Naitional Forest and is beautiful and secluded, with few signs of people anyway except walking tracks alongshore.

Position: -33°46.79'S, 151°13.84'E

A beautiful calm morning in Bantry Bay.

Position: -33°46.76'S, 151°13.84'E

Two boats selling newspapers, ice cream and coffee came through the bay this morning. This one has a full espresso machine on board.

Position: -33°50.67'S, 151°15.32'E

Most of the world's great cities have a defining architecture or an iconic building. For Sydney, it's certainly the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. Sydney also has two defining events each year: the New Year's Eve fireworks display and the Sydney-Hobart sailboat race. Both events bring nearly every resident, and a large number of international visitors, out to the harbor waterfront. An impossibly large number actually end up out on the water in boats. Sydney Harbor is a large one until you see thousands of spectator boats jamming in only feet apart. Just watching the spectator boats at the start of the Sydney-Hobart race was exciting. The race itself is one of the premier blue water sailboat races in the world. Boats and crews come to Sydney from all over the globe to compete. This year's race started 114 boats and favorable winds carried the boats out of the harbor faster than in any previous race. We were invited out to watch the race on local residents Emma and Pat Roger's cruiser. We appreciated the opportunity to watch the race without having to manage the helm. It turns out Pat is a real pro at maneuvering the boat into the ideal position to see the start of the race with other spectator boats only feet away in 25 kt winds. So, we got some great pictures and some movie segments fairly close to the start action.

Position: -36°56.46'S, 150°31.20'E

Perpetual Loyal, one of the 5, supermaxis in the Sydney Hobart blue water race has retired with hull damage at the bow and taking on water. They believe they may have hit something last night around 9pm. Given that Dirona will be heading along the same rough path to Tasmania in a week, it's a bit conserning to think that ocean born debris may have seriously damaged this 100 yacht: .

Position: -33°47.72'S, 151°13.57'E

After a few nights in Bantry Bay, we moved over to Sugarloaf Bay for a change of scenery. We enjoyed the anchorage, but it was a lot more crowded than Bantry Bay.

Position: -33°48.21'S, 151°14.64'E

We followed at least a dozen boats through at the 10am Spit Bridge opening.

Position: -33°47.95'S, 151°17.08'E

We anchored off Manly and went ashore for lunch and a walk around. The Manly Corso was incredibly busy on this holiday Sunday.

Position: -33°47.98'S, 151°16.52'E

The view to our anchorage over the Fairlight Tidal Swimming Pool just west of downtown Manly.

Position: -33°48.13'S, 151°16.57'E

This Moth sailor was really moving across Manly Cove.

Position: -33°48.13'S, 151°16.57'E

We installed a 15-amp, 240V socket in the lazarette so we can plug in 240-volt equipment.

Position: -33°51.23'S, 151°14.49'E

Evidence we're in all the right places: this is our third sighting of Paul Allen's Octopus since leaving Seattle. We last saw Octopus off Waikiki Beach, and before that in San Francisco Bay.

Position: -33°50.82'S, 151°13.20'E

Woolworths grocery delivery has been incredibly convenient for us here in Australia. We had several orders delivered in Brisbane, a large one to Bobbin Head and another large one here at the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron. This is one of four loads the driver is bringing us.

Position: -33°50.81'S, 151°13.20'E

Groceries to stow from our big Woolworths delivery. Woolworths doesn't deliver alcohol in Queensland, but they do in New South Wales. So we took advantage and stocked up for the next few months.

Position: -33°50.87'S, 151°13.17'E

Dinner at the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron. Dirona is visible behind Jennifer at the left end of the dock. We'll be staying here through New Year's.

Position: -33°51.57'S, 151°13.21'E

With Dirona moored at the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, we went on a dingy tour of the harbour. Farm Cove is one of the prime locations for viewing the fireworks by boat, and already was getting pretty packed. Only boats less than 15m are allowed, but a few seemed to be pushing that limit.

Position: -33°51.63'S, 151°14.64'E

One of the several firework barges being towed into place. Those shells are huge.

Position: -33°51.60'S, 151°14.72'E

We took a closer look at Paul Allen's Octopus--there's a pretty large boat inside the garage. Several of the larger yachts were stern-anchored to keep their stern to the display. Their anchor chain is visible at the left corner.

Position: -33°51.49'S, 151°14.77'E

Nordhavn 86 Gloria Maris also was here for the fireworks. We've seen that boat a few times in our travels: in the Tuamotus, Papeete, and New Zealand.

Position: -33°50.98'S, 151°14.48'E

Athol Bay is another popular anchorage for viewing the fireworks and was pretty full. We're told this is a less busy year than normal though.

Position: -33°51.15'S, 151°14.30'E

Matt and Jean Findlay had Superted anchored in Athol Bay and invited us in board for a drink.

Position: -33°50.90'S, 151°14.33'E

Graham and Margarita Weir also were anchored in Athol Bay in their Norhdavn 43 Barquita.

Position: -33°50.80'S, 151°13.18'E

We ran the tender out to the edge of the exclusion zone to watch the 9pm Family Fireworks display. The harbour was packed with boats ranging from kayaks to large charter boats. Fireworks are launched from many platforms spread throughout the harbor and the sheer volume of fireworks concurrently released with the city waterfront as a backdrop for the display is amazing. There are fireworks everywhere.

Position: -33°50.93'S, 151°12.79'E

We walked up to Kirribilli before the midnight fireworks. The streets were closed to cars and vendors were selling hot dogs by the dozen with people, and police, everywhere. A constant stream of people were arriving at Bradfield Park to watch the show.

Position: -33°50.80'S, 151°13.18'E

We watched the midnight fireworks from Dirona. It was absolutely amazing.